ABSTRACT: Acute-onset, severe systolic hypertension; severe diastolic hypertension; or both can occur in pregnant women or women in the postpartum period. Introducing standardized, evidence-based clinical guidelines for the management of patients with preeclampsia and eclampsia has been demonstrat...

ABSTRACT: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises against the use of magnesium sulfate injections for more than 5–7 days to stop preterm labor in pregnant women. Based on this, the drug classification was changed from Category A to Category D, and the labeling was changed to include this new...

ABSTRACT: For certain medical conditions, available data and expert opinion support optimal timing of delivery in the late-preterm or early-term period for improved neonatal and infant outcomes. However, for nonmedically indicated early-term deliveries such an improvement has not been demonstrated...

ABSTRACT: The neonatal risks of late preterm (34 0/7–36 6/7 weeks of gestation) and early-term (37 0/7–38 6/7 weeks of gestation) births are well established. However, there are a number of maternal, fetal, and placental complications in which either a late-preterm or early-term delivery is warran...

ABSTRACT: Placenta accreta is a potentially life-threatening obstetric condition that requires a multidisciplinary approach to management. The incidence of placenta accreta has increased and seems to parallel the increasing cesarean delivery rate. Women at greatest risk of placenta accreta are tho...

ABSTRACT: In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidelines for the prevention of perinatal group B streptococcal disease. Although universal screening at 35–37 weeks of gestation and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis continue to be the basis of the prevention strateg...

ABSTRACT: Although the Committee on Obstetric Practice believes that hospitals and birthing centers are the safest setting for birth, it respects the right of a woman to make a medically informed decision about delivery. Women inquiring about planned home birth should be informed of its risks and ...

ABSTRACT: Numerous large clinical studies have evaluated the evidence regarding magnesium sulfate, neuroprotection, and preterm births. The Committee on Obstetric Practice and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine recognize that none of the individual studies found a benefit with regard to their...

ABSTRACT: Subclinical hypothyroidism is diagnosed in asymptomatic women when the thyroid-stimulating hormone level is elevated and the free thyroxine level is within the reference range. Thyroid hormones, specifically thyroxine, are essential for normal fetal brain development. However, data indic...

ABSTRACT: In accordance with the new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association, all infants with meconium-stained amniotic fluid should no longer routinely receive intrapartum suctioning. If meconium is present and the newborn is depressed, the clinician...

ABSTRACT: Amnioinfusion has been advocated as a technique to reduce the incidence of meconium aspiration and to improve neonatal outcome. However, a large proportion of women with meconium-stained amniotic fluid have infants who have taken in meconium within the trachea or bronchioles before mecon...

ABSTRACT: The Apgar score provides a convenient shorthand for reporting the status of the newborn infant and the response to resuscitation. The Apgar score has been used inappropriately to predict specific neurologic outcome in the term infant. There are no consistent data on the significance of t...